Hieroglyphics: "Live in Tempe, AZ" Video
Related Videos
Hieroglyphics: "Full Circle Tour Live" DVD
Rooted in the creative atmosphere of the Bay Area, Hieroglyphics has emerged as a powerful force within underground hip-hop culture. Comprised of Del the FunkyHomosapien, Casual, Pep Love, Domino, and the group Souls of Mischief, this crew is one of the first to successfully forge careers as a collective and as individual artists. Sales for the crew have sailed well beyond 3 million units-- and that?s not even including their various tapes and underground records released in the early days. If you felt the Hieroglyphics camp for the first time when Del emerged on the scene in '91 with the classic, I Wish My Brother George Was Here (Elektra) you had to know that great things were ahead. And on and on, good things came from Hiero, including: Del?s 1993 release, No Need for Alarm (Elektra), Souls? debut in 1993, 93 til Infinity (Jive), Casual's 1994 release Fear Itself (Jive), and Souls? follow up in 1995, No Man?s Land (Jive). In 1997, armed with experience and insight, Hieroglyphics formed their own independent company, Hiero Imperium, and soon released their first album as a collective unit, Third Eye Vision, followed by releases by each of the individual artists on the label. Hiero also built a strong online presence through their award-winning website ? hieroglyphics.com (9 years and running!) and a merchandise line prominently featuring their famous three-eyed logo. The success of the Hieroglyphics Imperium label has enabled them to branch out beyond their own work to expand their musical legacy. In 2002 Hiero released one of Hip-Hop?s first CD/DVD hybrids, One Big Trip, which included a soundtrack on one side of the disc and a movie on the other. Artists within the collective also have collaborated with the likes of Dilated Peoples, Q-Tip, Xzibit, George Clinton, Jurassic 5, and Dan the Automator (Deltron 3030). The most notable of these collaborations was Del the Funky Homosapien?s lead vocal performance on "Clint Eastwood", the smash single off of the multi-platinum selling album from the Gorillaz. 2003 brought about the highest grossing fiscal year ever, along with the formation of a brand-new distribution wing of Hiero Imperium, which showcases the next wave of innovative independent artists. Releases included projects with soul singer Goapele, and hip-hop artists Z-Man and Encore. In 2004, the expansion continued. The Hiero crew has followed up Third Eye Vision with a new release entitled Full Circle , as well as a solo album from Tajai (Souls of Mischief)-Power Movement, and V/A The Building, a budget compilation of things to come. 2005 will bring about forthcoming albums from: Opio (Triangulation Station) Casual (Smash Rockwell), Pep Love (Reconstruction) and Del (Eleventh Hour). Also included in this surge of creativity is the newly formed multi-media branch of Hiero Imperium, set to release a DVD of the recent Hieroglyphics "Full Circle" Tour. Keep your third eye open!
Hieroglyphics: "That's When Ya Lost" live
Peep the live performance of "That's When Ya Lost" by the Hieroglyphics.
E-40: "The Making of the 'Tell Me When To Go' Video"
This is a behind-the-scenes look at the video shoot for the first single from My Ghetto Report Card, E-40's soon-to-be released 12th album. "Tell Me When To Go" features Keak Da Sneak, and was recently shot by Lil' Jon and Director, Bernard Gourley (Lyfe Jennings, Three 6 Mafia, Beanie Siegle). The video introduces the world to the Hyphy movement in the Bay. "Hyphy music is like Crunk, but in a more up-tempo way. The culture is a way of life for Bay kids. We got the side shows, the muscle cars, we ghost ride the whip, we got the invisible driving, the music, the go dumb get stupid dances, we just actin' a fool expressing ourselves," explains E-40. Thousands of people showed up at the shoot including just about every rapper in the bay, members of the Hieroglyphics crew, and members of The BME Click including Lil' Jon, Lil' Scrappy, and Bohagon. "We were smokin' up the block, turning donuts and figure 8's. We had the hyphy train crackin'. Just imagine 300 cars riding back to back after a party with every car, van, camper or truck with all they doors open, shakin' their dreads, showing their grill, sporting stunna shade glasses, dancing on top of the roofs and hoods of the whip, campaigning like the president, like a big parade. It's just a whole bunch of super energy. You gotta see it," explains E-40.
Check out the latest video from Hieroglyphics member Opio
Groove along to the beats from this funky Soul Train classic.
The Living Legends: "Down for Nothin'"
The Living Legends crew is a family of independent hip-hop creators. From primary earth bases in Los Angeles and Oakland, the Legends extend worldwide and beyond. It all started with BFAP (now known as Sunspot Jonz) and PSC (Luckyiam), who laid claim to the name of Mystik Journeymen in the early 1990s. By '94 they were locally legendary for throwing Underground Survivors shows, houseparty style at their loft - 4001 San Leandro Street in East Oakland. That's where the Grouch hooked up with the Journeymen in 1995, just before they took off on their renowned first European tour. Around the same time in the southern part of the state, Mid-city Los Angeles to be exact, 3 Melancholy Gypsys (Murs, Scarub & Eligh) were part of the almost mythic Log Cabin crew going back to 1993. Log Cabin later broke up and the Gypsys wandered separately. As it turned out, the 3 would cross paths again in the Bay Area and became Living Legends. Aesop came to Oakland from Fresno, Arata from Osaka, and Bicasso from various points, East, West and elsewhere... In 1999 the Legends shifted their center of gravity to Los Angeles, but their presence has definitely not diminished in Oakland and the Bay. You know it makes no difference where they stay because the universe revolves around them anyway. Over the years, the Journeymen and the Legends have rocked Europe, Japan, Australia and Canada numerous times, plus they've toured the USA, north and south, east coast, west coast and beyond ... In the years since the Legends have continued releasing solo and crew projects and now have a catalog of over 50 full-length albums and numerous singles. All in all, this crew of motivated do-it-yourselfers has sold over 200,000 albums collectively. The latest crew album "Creative Differences" has turned in to their best selling album to date, (with Soundscan numbers just under 23,000 so far) and continues to sell. Other recent releases are from CMA (Grouch & Luckyiam), Scarub, and Sunspot Jonz. New projects by Eligh, 3MG, Bicasso and Aesop are expected in 2005. March 8, 2005, will see the release of the Legends highly anticipated new album "Classic," a project the crew got together to record earlier this year. That was the first time in recent memory all 8 members were together with the purpose of recording a new project and what came out of those sessions is definitely their strongest material yet. Expect to see them spring 2005 coming to a city near you on tour promoting the new project. The group has no plans to let up, they're only turning up the fire, see if you can keep up. Legends Baby!!!!
For its fifth release, Blackalicious has created a record of such sonic depth and breadth and lyrical ambition that it can proudly stand alongside the work of Bay Area funk fathers Sly Stone and Shuggie Otis, or hip-hop classics like Outkast's Aquemini, The Roots' Things Fall Apart and Gang Starr's Daily Operation. But The Craft is not nostalgia for some "golden era" that never existed, it represents state-of-the-art hip-hop with an expansive worldview. From its opening, the sublimely orchestrated Stereolab-esque suite of "World of Vibrations", The Craft moves from peak to peak-including the Prince-ly rush of "Powers", a sinuous funk summit with George Clinton on "Lotus Flower", and the seductive meta-futurist soul of "Automatique," which features special guest vocals from Floetry. The Craft reveals one of global hip-hop's best-loved crews achieving another artistic breakthrough. "It's my favorite of all of our albums," says the Gift of Gab. "I think that it's our best album."
Nightmares On Wax: "Know My Name"
While the group's 1991 debut A Word Of Science buried mainman George Evelyn's influences beneath a bleeping MIDI interface, 1995?s breakthrough Smokers Delight had little to do with techno; it's a hip hop chill out album, with a classic soul flourish. On Carboot Soul, George continued to take the sounds of soul innovators to new sound plateaus. Weaned by his family on soul staples Quincy Jones and Curtis Mayfield, George continued his musical education when the first wave of hip hop hit with tracks like "Rappers Delight" and "Buffalo Gals." George joined a local breakdance crew, where he forged an alliance with fellow b-boy Kevin Harper, forming Nightmares On Wax. They released the "Dexterous" single in 1990, but what caused a stir was their Top 40 UK hit "Aftermath." The track signaled the presence of "Northern Bleep," a homebrewed, Northeast digital-break sound underlined with solid hip hop beats. This technique can be found on 1991's A Word Of Science: The First And Final Chapter. After four years of co-running The Headz Club in Leeds, amassing samples, and rethinking his approach to music, George returned without Keith on 1995?s slo-mo, soulistic LP Smokers Delight. By then, George was up front about his musical inspirations. Each track nonchalantly sojourns down crisp Philly Soul production, pulsating ho-down medleys, heavy Barry White pant tones, and nerve-shivering chord shimmers. Its laid-back tone came from George hearing KLF?s "Chill Out" record and applying the concept to hip hop. Carboot Soul marked a major change for NOW in their use of live musicians. George is now joined onstage by a guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, singer and rapper. It is all part of his plan for NOW to operate like a band rather than a studio act. In spite of this, the drum machine still remains. George elaborates, "Doing the live side proves there is more to the music. People have something more tangible to relate the music to and it gives us the chance to connect with the audience. The main priority for NOW is to prove that we can perform music, but we're not ignoring the fact that we come from a studio, technical background. We just want to mix the old with the new. That's why, at the moment, I don?t have a live drummer. The sound of the beats is what makes Nightmares." The title Carboot Soul commemorates the time George would hunt for dusty 12"s and albums in car boot sales. It's another indication that NOW?s true sound was there from the beginning; all they've done is come full circle. George has a realistic outlook about the way his music is developing: "Today's music is inspired by whatever has gone on before. That's what fascinates me. Soul music is the earliest form of hip hop. That's why I want to create it. It might seem like recreating what was done in the past, but what I want to do is merge soul and hip hop together. That's why I'll bring in the live aspect of what happened back then into current hip hop trends. That?s the angle I?m arriving at."
The Jive Aces live at the Saint Hill Charity Concert, Sussex, England. Jump, jive and wail to the UK's No.1 jive and swing band and one of the hardest working bands on the road today!
David Gahan, Kevin Drew, Richard Hawley
Depeche Mode frontman David Gahan, Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew, and soulful British crooner Richard Hawley are the Download Music crew's picks this week on Crossfade TV.
